


Sunshine Riptide

by aintweproudriff



Series: Royalty/Magic AU [5]
Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Kid Fic, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Prompt Fill, fire kingdom, water kingdom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-04
Updated: 2019-03-04
Packaged: 2019-10-22 01:01:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17653016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aintweproudriff/pseuds/aintweproudriff
Summary: Prompt fill:"'We're.... we're kids again,' Mush breathed, putting a hand to his face." - @magicalmonsterhero"Mush and Blink are in water and fire kingdoms respectively, and they sneak out at night like spralmer did" - adapted from @heckthepeckTitle from "Sunshine Riptide" by Fall Out Boy





	1. Tried to Burn all the Mercy Out of Me

**Author's Note:**

> Surprise, bitch, thought you'd seen the last of this series.   
> So did I, honestly, but when a prompt works THIS WELL for a series, it's like I'm legally obligated to bring it back.

Mush loved the feeling of mud between his toes. As a little kid, he used to play in the mud for hours. But now he was older - ten whole years of age - and he knew better. He knew he had to be good: keep his little siblings in check and keep them safe. Mama couldn’t be there all the time, after all. He had to be responsible.   
Still, sometimes he took his shoes off and walked barefoot like this, and he couldn’t help but want to play in the mud again.   
When he and his sister had been really young, they made mud pies in the scorching afternoon sun, getting tanned all the while. He’d always loved the heat, even if it was wrong for a boy from the water kingdom to enjoy the sun so much. 

Now, though, the mud wasn’t hot. In the cool of night, it squished under his feet rather than cracking under his fingers. He certainly liked that sensation, combined with the adrenaline of sneaking out of his house, better than dusty old mud pies you couldn’t even eat. 

Mush broke out into a run. He assumed he was leaving footprints in the mud behind him, but he couldn’t think about that. Besides, when he got back - whenever that would be - he’d move the water in the earth around to cover up the fact that he’d even been gone.   
He’d never left home like this before, but the darkness had called him. It had rained that evening, and the fresh air felt so nice through his window that he had to experience it for himself. So he’d picked up a book, lifted the glass window pane all the way up, slid through, and put the book in the window to keep it from closing. Then he’d looked at the moon, or at least tried to. Through all of the trees overhead, it was kind of difficult.   
He kept running, reveling in how it felt just to move. He knew he’d run like this the last time he’d been with friends, but that was a few weeks ago now, and his body had missed the motion.   
It didn’t take long for him to get winded. Out of breath, he hunched over. Despite the pain in his lungs, he couldn’t help but feel the joy bubble up in his chest. He wheezed out a laugh that was intended for no one but himself. It felt good to have control over his own physical feelings. 

As he laughed and straightened his back, however, he started to look around. A rock. A tree root. A creek. He didn’t recognize any of it. This was territory he’d never seen before, something he didn’t know.   
Mush began to shake in spite of himself. He was a big kid, ten whole years old - his mama had told him he was old enough to take care of himself. Surely he would be okay, even when he was lost. He spun in a circle, trying to remember from which direction he had come, but as he spun he only got more confused. 

He took a deep breath, and took a step forward. He didn’t think it was too late in the night just yet; in theory, if he just kept walking, he would hit another kingdom, or he’d be back at his house. Then he would know which direction he needed to go from there. Just because he couldn’t tell north from south right now didn’t mean he wouldn’t ever be able to.  
He kept walking for what felt like hours. It wasn’t hours, however. He knew because the night only got darker, not lighter.   
Darker and darker as he walked through the forest, and only felt more lost as he went. At one point, he was pretty sure he felt some tears fall. He wanted to be back home. He wanted to be with his mom, and his dad, and his little siblings by the tea kettle, humming along to the song his dad sang every morning as he got ready. 

Eventually, the sky did lighten around him, but it was obvious that it wasn’t the sun. Mush all but ran towards the light source anyway, so relieved to think that maybe he could find a clear path. It didn’t take long for him to realize what it really was. 

“The fire kingdom,” he whispered, staring at the field in front of him. Everything, from the grass that stretched for miles until it turned into towering cliffs, seemed to be alight in awe-inspiring licks of orange and yellow. 

“Do you need help?” called a voice from behind him. No, not behind him. Mush turned to the right sharply, only to come face to face with a boy. 

Mush took an awkward step back. “No, I don’t,” he said sharply, trying to buy himself a minute to look at this other boy. He had dark skin, darker than Mush got when he was tanned during the summer. His face was round, like he was young - about Mush’s age, probably. And most noticeably, this boy had a patch over his eye.   
He remembered when his mom told him not to stare at people who were different from him, but it was just so hard right now. 

The boy looked stunned. “Well, um, why are you here?”

“I’m lost,” Mush sighed.

“But you don’t need help?”

He considered for a moment, then nodded. “I do need help. I actually really need help.”

The boy grinned, like he’d won something. Mush tried not to think about how humiliated he felt. “Okay,” he nodded sharply, clearly trying to act more like an adult than he was. “Where do you need to go?”

“Home,” Mush answered, and he could hear the longing in his own voice. “I ran away and now I don’t know how to get back.”

“Home is in the water kingdom?”

“Yeah.”

“Where in the water kingdom?”

Mush tried to remember what his mom had told him, for if he ever got lost. “In the corner village, beyond the Aquarin River.”

The boy nodded. “I know where that is. Follow me.”

Mush stayed by his side as they walked back in the direction from which Mush had come. The boy didn’t talk, so Mush stayed quiet too, until he couldn’t take it anymore.

“What’s your name?” the words burst out of his mouth. 

The boy looked up, studied Mush’s face, and sighed. “Blink.”

“Cool. My name’s Mush. Are you from the fire kingdom?”

He nodded, looking carefully at the ground so he didn’t trip. “Yeah.”

“How do you know this area so well then?” Mush asked, wanting to keep any semblance of conversation going. 

Blink shook his head. “Don’t ask questions; I don’t want to answer them.”

“Oh, um, okay.”

A while later, the sky started to brighten, and Blink stopped. 

“Can you get yourself home from here?”

Mush nodded, and watched Blink all but run away without saying another word. When the boy had finally disappeared from his sight, Mush turned around and walked back to his house. He pried open the window - thankfully, the book hadn’t fallen out - and climbed in bed. He knew he didn’t have long to sleep, but he figured that a little bit of time was better than nothing at all.   
Besides, he’d had a long night, and he’d need his energy if he ever wanted to go out again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is,,, cheesy and un-edited. but it's here!

By the time Mush was 18, so much had changed in the kingdoms. His routes through his own had stayed mainly the same, of course. Every few nights, he walked to the edge of the water kingdom, hung out at the border, and went back home. But things had changed in the kingdoms. The Kings, Elmer, Sean, Albert, and Anthony, were getting married in a few days, and Mush had heard that once they were married, they planned to dissolve the borders and unite the kingdom again before retiring.   
He had heard a lot of people who were for that plan and a lot of people who opposed it. On one hand, uniting the kingdom would connect families who, generations ago, had separated. Mush had family in the Earth kingdom somewhere, although they were distantly removed. It would bolster the economy of all four kingdoms as job prospects increased and people were able to move around more. It would educate more people on other kinds of magic.   
(There had been a rumor that King Elmer now knew all four kinds of magic, and that he had taught some of the sacred ways to the other princes. Mush wasn't sure if he believed the rumor, but he did know that he wanted to learn other kinds of magic, if that was possible.)  
On the other hand, however, some people - mostly the elderly in the kingdom - worried that uniting the kingdom would destroy the culture of the water kingdom. They were proud of their heritage, they said, and couldn't bear to see it spiral into oblivion.   
Mush wasn’t so sure what he thought about all that, but he did know two things: even if he disagreed, his opinion wouldn’t change the kings’ choice, and he loved the festivities that came with the wedding.   
On the day of the wedding, he and his siblings got all dressed up to go. They wouldn't be able to see the actual service, of course. That was limited to people who actually knew the royal families. Family, now, he supposed.   
Regardless of if he could watch the ceremony or not, he and his family couldn't resist going and standing outside with the rest of the people who wanted to see the revelries. 

The sun burned his face while the proceedings went on inside. Not only was he hot, but his brother wouldn't shut up. He kept chatting incessantly about everything he saw: the birds, the water, the people from other kingdoms who wore clothing he had never seen before. All of his blabbering almost distracted Mush from the wedding, and how excited he was for it.   
These people around him were so different, but they all had one big thing in common. They all loved their Kings, and they all highly anticipated seeing what they would look like on their wedding day, and how their husbands might look too. The love for the royal family was palpable around him.   
People had made signs to tell Anthony, Sean, Albert, and Elmer how much they loved them individually. Many people, from old, hobbling grandmothers to the youngest babies, struggling to stand, had made or brought presents; they carried wrapped boxes with them down the streets. If they couldn't shove the box into the hand of a king when he passed, they would make a point of dropping it off at their respective castle, hoping it would be passed along. Vendors lined the streets, selling commemorative items: flags, banners, rings, necklaces, plaques and plates, and more.   
It was sweet, really, how people came out to show their support for young love and a new era. Mush was lost in his thoughts about this kind of unity when suddenly he saw a streak of brown - his brother - fly past him. He snapped his head out of the clouds and, waving at his sister, who kept the other kids with her, ran after him. 

“Quincy!” he yelled, thankful that he had built up an endurance to running after nights out of the house. But his younger brother was fast, and Mush had to tear through the street, almost knocking over a vendor’s stand as he did so. “Quincy!”

Finally, his brother stopped, out of breath, kneeling down to pet a dog. 

“I did that for a dog?” Mush whispered, panting.

When he looked up, however, to apologize to the owner of the dog, the words halted in his mouth. 

“Don’t I know you?” the owner said suspiciously. “Have we met?”

Quincy looked up at him. “Nope! I don’t think I’ve met you. I think I would remember someone with a patch on their eye.”

The boy laughed. “No, I don’t know you either, kid. I was talking to your brother here.”

Mush nodded. “Yeah, we met a long time ago. Your name’s Blink, isn’t it? You helped me get home the first time I went to the border. You’re from the fire kingdom.”

“Yeah, I’m Blink, and this-” he gestured to the dog “-is Augie. And you’re Mush, right? Do you still get lost in your own kingdom?”

“No,” Mush tried to look at Blink’s face, but he felt his eyes drawn more to the ground. “Not since you helped me.”

“But apparently, you do cause a ruckus at the royal wedding,” Blink laughed. 

Mush pointed at his brother. “Yeah, that’s Quincy’s fault. He loves dogs,” he said, shrugging out of embarrassment.

“Well hey, Mush and Quincy. I’ve got a good spot to watch the Kings when they get out of the church. Do you want to come watch with me and Augie?”

Quincy accepted the offer before Mush had the opportunity to blushingly say they had to be back with their family, so they made their way back with Blink. Mush tried not to watch him, honestly, but he struggled to keep his eyes off of him. Blink’s shirt wasn’t a shirt so much as it was an undergarment, and it displayed the kind of muscular build Mush envied. And with Blink talking so much to Quincy and keeping him busy, Mush had plenty of time to think on it.   
It turned out that Blink’s spot to watch the Kings was right by the door. Mush couldn’t fathom how he would have gotten such a good place. 

“I’m friends with Sean, actually. He reserved this for me,” was the explanation Blink gave, and Mush was so stunned that he couldn’t find a way to ask for more information. 

Sure enough, when the Kings emerged from the church, Sean made a point of stopping in front of Blink and shaking his hand. Mush thought he saw a whispered ‘thank you’ on Sean’s lips, but once he saw Anthony ruffle Quincy’s hair, he wasn’t sure if his vision was betraying him or not. 

Eventually, the kings had passed through, and Mush could see that Quincy was getting tired. 

“Hey kid,” he whispered fondly. “Let’s get you back to the other kids, and then let’s get you home, okay?”

Quincy nodded and took Mush’s hand. The two of them started on their way, but Mush felt a hand on his arm. 

“Mush. Um, I’d like to-” Blink laughed at his own awkwardness, his shoulders shaking slightly. “I’d like to go get some food with you, if that’s alright.”

Mush smiled, glad that Blink had asked so he didn’t have to. “Let me go check with my sister. I don’t want to leave her on her own to get everyone home if she thinks she’ll need help.”

Blink followed the two of them mutely, and he was smiling when Mush turned back around, having received the go-ahead from his sister. 

The two of them walked together, silently, to a street vendor selling food. They ordered, and then sat together on a couple of nearby rocks as they ate. 

"So, you're friends with King Sean?" Mush asked, since the question had been rubbing him the wrong way for almost an hour now. 

Blink laughed darkly. "Something like that. The truth is that I used to help him sneak out. He met me once, when he was sneaking out when he was really young. I didn't know he was the prince then, but I helped distract some people who almost caught him. I still don't know why I did it; I guess I just felt nice that night. Regardless, I saw him again when he was sneaking back into the castle. That’s when I found out he was royalty. A few nights later, he met me again, and he told me everything about the boys he met - just two of them at the time. And then we started to be there for each other, even when we knew so little about each other. He helped me, and I helped him. Eventually, he did tell me about a boy from the water kingdom he had met. Actually, when I first heard about him, Sean thought he was the most annoying piece of shit he’d ever met, and I wondered if he was talking about you.”

Mush started at the mean words, but then Blink rolled his eyes fondly and looked at Mush happily, and he found himself almost forgetting the bite he thought he’d heard. 

“Well, I figured out eventually that it wasn’t you, and I was almost glad. I think I thought you were my annoying piece of shit.”

“That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me,” Mush pushed Blink’s shoulder gently. 

“Shut up, I’m not done. One night - day, really, it was a morning, Sean came back to the kingdom, but he wasn’t himself,” Blink said, leaning forward as if it took all of his energy to recall this moment. “He was angry. He said that Elmer had ruined everything, had done something stupid. I didn’t know what it was, but it was big. And then he came back a few nights later, said Elmer was alright now. He had-” Blink laughed, like it was a comforting memory “-he had this dorky grin on his face, like he was high. After that, I didn’t see him for almost a week. And then he was in the news, an article up on the messageboard of the city. He and all the other princes, in some scandal. And, well, I’m sure you know the rest well enough.” 

“I do,” Mush laughed. “It’s legendary.”

“Did you ever think about me? Growing up?” Blink asked sharply.

“Sure,” he nodded, deciding truth was better than an unnecessary lie. “All the time when I snuck out. Sometimes I wished you were there, just so I’d have someone to talk to. And from what I hear, you’re pretty easy to confide in.”

“The King’s own,” Blink shook his head. “I thought about you too, if I’m honest. Sometimes I’d walk into the water kingdom, just a little ways. I never saw you, though.” 

“Well, now you won’t have to go to the water kingdom to find me. We’ll all be in the same kingdom.”

“I think I’ll like that,” Blink mused. 

“Yeah? Why?”

“I won’t have to worry about silly politics when I do this,” he grinned, and leaned forward. His lips were on Mush’s, then, and Mush swore he felt like he was walking through the forest with Blink again, just like all those years ago.

“That’s freedom, right there,” Mush nodded when they pulled back. “No worries. It’s like we’re… we’re kids again,” he said, and put a hand to his face.

If Mush hadn’t had an opinion on uniting the kingdoms into one before, he certainly did now that he had kissed Blink.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, thank you so much for reading. Any support, in the form of comments or kudos, is adored
> 
> (also I accidentally created Quincy but I love him)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I really really hope you liked this, and a kudo and/or comment would make my day! If you feel like it, hit me up on tumblr @lesbianpomatter or @aintweproudriff (which is where you could also submit a prompt, if you've got one for me!)


End file.
